STM is Working!
By Christopher MooreDonnie and I have finally managed to get a stable tunneling current with our STM. On Thursday we ran a couple of traces in the x-direction, and as long as we didn’t touch the table or the air handler wasn’t on we saw minimal historesis.
Next week we will set everything up on stone block/foam sandwiches for vibration isolation, put in a gold sample, and try to get a decent XY scan on the oscilloscope. I’ll post pictures then.
4 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
Congratulations, Chris! Just what you always wanted: an STM of your very own.
-Matt
Comment by Matt Sievert — Monday -- April 21st, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
I have wanted to build one for a while now. Donald got to do most of the fun part, though. There’s not an ounce of publishable research that this thing is capable of, but it was fun.
I hope THE Ohio State is treating you well. I wonder if Ben still wanders around here. He was (or still is) a string guy at THE Ohio State.
Comment by Christopher Moore — Wednesday -- April 23rd, 2008 @ 11:13 am
Not viable for research? That’s disappointing. This isn’t coming out of your startup funds, is it?
Comment by Matt Sievert — Wednesday -- April 30th, 2008 @ 7:34 am
Matt, you must not have read the original posts on the STM. We built the thing out of scrap aluminum and washers for less than $100.
However, there is actually an ounce of publishable work. The electronics will serve as the foundation for an apparatus that I am designing for a tunneling through a potential barrier experiment aimed towards the undergraduate modern lab. I’ll probably publish that in AJP when I finish the prototype this summer.
My start-up funds so far have gotten me tapping mode AFM, a source-measure unit for films, a sputter-deposition system, and a few power supplies. I still have to figure out how to spend next years allotment. Keep in mind, also, that I am at a primarily undergrad institution. Our start-up packages are MUCH smaller, and or research expectations are much lower.
Comment by Christopher Moore — Wednesday -- April 30th, 2008 @ 8:24 am